Downtown Houston first in line for Wi-Fi access

MATT STILES, Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle

Published
5:30 am CDT, Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Downtown likely will have the first access to the planned wireless Internet network system approved today by the City Council, and the rest of Houston will be added in 100-square-mile sections over two years, officials said.

The council unanimously approved the contract with Atlanta-based EarthLink to build and maintain the system at its own expense, charging Houstonians for access to a network that would be the largest of its kind in North America.

The network's first large customer will be the city itself. The council approved spending $2.5 million over five years for access. Officials say the deal could save the city money over time, because the network could replace other communications providers for municipal services.

Under the contract, the company is working on a tight, 24-month deadline to get the project finished. The company is still negotiating with CenterPoint Energy to place network components on electricity poles.

Some residents and businesses will have access before others, as the system moves toward completion by spring 2009.

"We're not going to wait for all the zones to be completed before we turn it on," said Janis Jefferson, the city's chief technology officer for infrastructure.

Although she and other officials said details of the build-out schedule are still under discussion, downtown has a head start because a smaller wireless system already is in place for new, remote-control parking meters.

Officials also hope to control the city's traffic lights and eventually water meters through the network.

The council vote caps a yearlong process since Mayor Bill White announced the goal.

When the network is in place, residents will be able to purchase subscriptions from EarthLink to the wireless network for about $22 a month. It's possible that other Internet providers might purchase access, allowing their customers the option of getting online when they leave their homes.

The mayor also has touted municipal Wi-Fi, as wireless Internet is called, as a way to bridge the so-called "digital divide" between Houstonians who have access to high-speed Internet and those who don't.

About 40,000, $10-a-month discount accounts will be available for low-income residents. The city is still developing a policy on who will qualify for the discounted access.

City officials say the network also will help government employees do their jobs more efficiently, mainly by allowing mobile workers to function away from the office.

Some employees, including building inspectors, already have that capability using a wireless card, but the EarthLink service will be significantly cheaper, city officials say.

Other city employees, mainly public safety workers, are limited in what they can accomplish from the field because it's too expensive to outfit all of them with wireless technology. With a citywide network, police officers could access photographs, maps and video from patrol cars, firefighters could send live videos of blazes to a command center, and ambulance staff could connect to databases containing vital patient information.

EarthLink officials were unavailable to discuss the contract, but executive Cole Reinwand was enthusiastic in a written statement. "Today's agreement takes EarthLink and the city a step closer to making City Hall more efficient and responsive, and improving the city's business climate and residents' quality of life," Reinwand said.

According to the contract, EarthLink's network would offer download speeds of 1 Mbps. That's much faster than dial-up service, but slower than cable.

City officials say they intend to hold the company to that performance level, hoping to avoid the pitfalls of some other municipal networks that have failed to maintain promised speed and signal strength, perhaps because there were too many users and not enough access points.

While networks often work well outdoors, connections can be weak or spotty inside buildings.

In Houston, EarthLink hopes to avoid that problem by providing its subscribers with "repeaters" — devices that strengthen the signal indoors.

Some cities also have struggled with poor coverage, which skeptics say could plague Houston's project because of its size. EarthLink has agreed to extend outdoor access to 95 percent of the city's 640-square miles and an indoor signal to 90 percent of the buildings within that space. Free access must be available in public spaces that make up five percent of that area.